Valenzuela lawmaker joins Lacson’s camp

Valenzuela City Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo l is defecting to the camp of opposition presidential hopeful Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

"It’s almost a done deal," Makati Rep. Agapito Aquino, secretary-general of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), described yesterday Gunigundo’s defection to their camp.

He said he and Lacson would meet today with Gunigundo and "another congressman" and some local officials who have allied themselves with the other LDP faction headed by party president Sen. Edgardo Angara.

Sources said the other congressman Aquino referred to is Caloocan Rep. Enrico Echiveri.

Both Gunigundo and Echiveri are seeking the mayoral posts in their respective cities. Gunigundo is running against Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian, a son of "plastics king" William Gatchalian, a close friend of ousted President Joseph Estrada but who is frequently seen these days golfing with First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.

During Estrada’s impeachment trial, star witness Clarissa Ocampo testified that she saw the disgraced president sign as Jose Velarde on bank documents that covered a P500 million loan to Gatchalian. The money was supposedly taken from the controversial Jose Velarde account in Equitable PCI Bank.

Echiveri is up against House colleague Edgar Erice, former mayor Macario Asistio, also an Estrada friend, and the wife of the incumbent, Rey Malonzo, who belongs to the ruling Lakas party.

Erice is the candidate of the LDP-Angara faction, while Asistio is running under the ticket of Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr.

Both Gunigundo and Echiveri were members of Lakas before moving to the LDP-Angara camp, where they feel they are being neglected.

In the case of Gunigundo, he feels cheated since his rival is being supported by Poe’s KNP and the group of Angara, who served as Estrada’s agriculture secretary and as executive secretary.

The Valenzuela congressman was among the first to sign the impeachment complaint against Estrada in 2000. — Jess Diaz